Help With Zales Diamond

[TOLMAN]

I have been trying to educated myself the past two weeks about diamonds. I know to look for the "4 C''s" and certification. I have been looking around like mad at a good ring for the best price. I came to this ring. http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2817716&kpc=1 . I have gone to the store to look at it 2 times now and it does look really good. It has a lovely shine even outside the showroom light. The problem is I have heard alot of shady things about Zales on here. Is this a good ring? How much does Zales markup their rings? What do you think I could negotiate this down to? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AprilBaby]

Read all the previous posts about Zales. You might want to start looking all over again.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Tolman and welcome!

It depends on your budget - but the thing is with this ring " GIA colour' and clarity is alluded to, but I don't see that the centre diamond comes with a GIA grading report...Also I2 or I3 clarity is not going to be eyeclean ( split colour also which GIA do not do), there is a high possibility that you will be able to see visible inclusions in the diamonds. Also we know nothing about the all important cut quality - this is what gives a diamond its beauty. If you are on a budget and like the ring - but understand that these aren't high quality diamonds ( and probably no grading report) then it is up to you whether it fits the bill for you or not, or if you would prefer to put the money towards another ring or diamond which has been properly graded by GIA, is of higher clarity and of known cut quality.

Also as April says, you can do a search to read others experiences with this company.

 

[PrincessDijon]

Def. be careful with Zales....my diamond that I just got recut was from there .... My ex gave it to me pre-PS days and it ended up being an AGS F I1, when their cert (which is more loosely graded--- IGI) said E SI2.

The clarity definitely suffers! They like to sell their diamonds based on color D, E, F range and say it's a "good" or "excellent" stone....and not usually for the best price either....

Def. do your hw on here...there are a ton of GEMsperts that can answer your questions!

Best of luck to you and glad you found PS!

 

[TOLMAN]

I will be honest here and say neither my girlfriend nor I know much about diamonds. She doesn''t even wear any rings that i ever see. So I''m in a position where I don''t have a lot to spend on a ring and I feel that if I buy a ring out of my price range it will be a waste because she isn''t a jewelry girl (and doesn''t really care about jewelry). As long as there are no visible flaws on it I am fine with it. That being said, I would really like to know what I could realistically negotiate the price down to?

 

[John P]

Date: 1/12/2009 12:41:28 PM
Author: TOLMAN
I will be honest here and say neither my girlfriend nor I know much about diamonds. She doesn't even wear any rings that i ever see. So I'm in a position where I don't have a lot to spend on a ring and I feel that if I buy a ring out of my price range it will be a waste because she isn't a jewelry girl (and doesn't really care about jewelry). As long as there are no visible flaws on it I am fine with it. That being said, I would really like to know what I could realistically negotiate the price down to?

You're going to get what you pay for unless you pay an inflated price...and no one would normally do that. Most people paying an inflated price walk away thinking they got the deal of the century. Don't be drawn in by "50% off" sales on diamonds. What's happening is that someone slapped a massively inflated 'original price' on the tag and then reduced that inflated price by 50%, making it look great...but you're still probably paying their normal margin or maybe even more.

How is this possible? It's because color and clarity grading varies, depending on the lab. You are not comparing apples-to-apples unless you stay with GIA or AGS reports in the USA. Even then, the cut of the diamond (which is the least understood and discussed in mainstream markets) influences value by a significant percentage.

A nice thing about the reputable Pricescope dealers is that they have great transparency. There are enough consumers and independent experts here that the skirts are all blown up, so you typically get great value for the money. Put bluntly, if a non-jewelry person like yourself has the choice between spending $5K in a typical commercial outlet or $5K with a reputable seller here the odds favor you getting better quality for your money here.

 

[T L]

Date: 1/12/2009 12:41:28 PM
Author: TOLMAN
I will be honest here and say neither my girlfriend nor I know much about diamonds. She doesn''t even wear any rings that i ever see. So I''m in a position where I don''t have a lot to spend on a ring and I feel that if I buy a ring out of my price range it will be a waste because she isn''t a jewelry girl (and doesn''t really care about jewelry). As long as there are no visible flaws on it I am fine with it. That being said, I would really like to know what I could realistically negotiate the price down to?

Most consumers are just like how you describe yourself, and that''s Zales, Jared''s, JBRobinson''s, and a myriad of other franchise B&M store''s prime target. Now that you came to pricescope, you''re luckier than most, so learn what you need here, and find the absolute best value for your money. Regardless of whether your girlfriend wears jewelry or not, an e-ring is a thing of pride to most women, and why would you want to waste your money on anything at all, when you can get your money''s worth.

 

[suchende]

Or, think about it this way. If you are willing to settle for a lower clarity diamond (hey, I have an I1 saved in my favorites right now, I am no clarity snob!) for your budget you could still get a bigger stone by staying away from Zale's (and know what you're really getting). Depending on your budget, you could get her something fairly impressive by shopping with a Pricescope vendor looking in the H/I I1 range.

ETA: I see that ring is $700 for three fairly small diamonds. I think you could probably get close to a 1/2 carat solitaire in a plain setting for the budget, assuming you agree bigger is better

 

[kittybean]

Date: 1/12/2009 12:41:28 PM
Author: TOLMAN
I will be honest here and say neither my girlfriend nor I know much about diamonds. She doesn't even wear any rings that i ever see. So I'm in a position where I don't have a lot to spend on a ring and I feel that if I buy a ring out of my price range it will be a waste because she isn't a jewelry girl (and doesn't really care about jewelry). As long as there are no visible flaws on it I am fine with it. That being said, I would really like to know what I could realistically negotiate the price down to?

Tolman, I cannot tell you how many of my girlfriends "didn't really wear jewelry" and never wore rings before their engagement--all of them have had a totally different attitude regarding their engagement ring. One of my best friends was very particular about the ring because it was the only piece of jewelry she knew she would be wearing, and she wanted it to be perfect (and it is!). For a lot of women, like tourmaline_lover said, an engagement ring is a source of pride. They want something beautiful to symbolize your love.

Have you spoken with your girlfriend regarding what she might want? I understand if you don't want to because it's a surprise, but I think it might be worth it to ask her some general questions about what she prefers, especially since you don't have many clues as to her jewelry style since she doesn't wear much now.

Please consider the excellent advice you've gotten here so far. Look into some of the beautiful things you can but through Pricescope vendors. They carry such amazing stones and are truly consumer-oriented.

 

[onedrop]

Considering that the limited information about the stones from GIA says that the clarity is I1-I3 I am thinking that you will probably be able to see the inclusions. Zales diamonds are not generally known for their cut quality. Why not try and find the best quality diamond that you can for your budget? Personally, regardless if I have a $500 or $50,000 budget, I want the best quality I can get for my $. I just think it would be a shame to spend $700, which is not an amount to sneeze at, only to get home and realize that you''ve made a huge mistake and that the stones in the ring aren''t as lively as you thought or the inclusions end up being much more visible than you realized.

 

[TOLMAN]

Where do you recommended I go to for a good diamond at 700 dollars? I do know that she wants a three stone ring and white gold. Can I find a similar size ring and stones for that cost? I appreciate all your help too!

 

[Clairitek]

I''ll start off by saying that I by no means an expert on stones. Though, I feel I can offer a few points of advice here.

I too would stay away from Zales. As Lorelei stated the clarity of this ring is quite poor as is the color rating. I would pass on paying that amount of money for 3 stones of poor color and clarity with the total weight being 1/2 carat.

Is $700 your total budget for the entire ring? Any stretching in there? How do you think she would feel about getting a solitaire now and then adding a jacket or enhancer to make it a three stone look for your wedding? If this is an option you would be able to get a better quality center stone in a simple solitaire setting.

I did find a simple white gold solitaire setting at Jamesallen.com for $250. If you mention Pricescope I believe that there is a 5% discount. I found a 0.36 AGS Ideal Cut I/VS2 round brilliant stone for $500. The total for this ring is $750 before the discount, $713 with the discount.

The setting can be found here.

Diamond can be found here.

I hope this helps you a little bit to see what you can get for your money with a little research and help from your PS friends.

 

[suchende]

Hmm... maybe Michael E would put something together for you, perhaps in an Adwar setting? That''s who I would go to for a project like this... his email address is on his website, gemshoppe.com. He doesn''t show much of his work there but he has tons of rave reviews elsewhere.